A Letter to my Future Self

In 1994 I wrote a letter. I stuck it in an envelope, put it away and completely forgot about it.

It wasn't until we moved into our new home in 2006 that I found it again. It was addressed to me with explicit（明确的） instructions not to open until my birthday 2005. It was now 2006 so I decided to open it. This is what it said:

Dear Sherri

By the time you read this you will be 30. At the age of 18 I had so many hopes and dreams about where you'd be, what you'd be doing and with whom you'd spend your life with.

Right now I hope that you have traveled and seen everything you've always wanted to, both in Canada and overseas, and maybe even settled down somewhere in Australia doing some research in the field of biology (genetics).

I hope you're married to the man of your dreams. The man of mine is Gwynn. He is originally from South Africa (another place I wish to visit).

You'll probably have two children of your own – a girl(Michaela Anne) and a boy (name yet to be decided).

If everything goes according to plan you'll be living in Australia in a big house in a small town outside of a big city with a lot of land, a dog, Gwynn and your two beautiful children. Hopefully you have a career in the medical field, maybe doing research in genetics. Gwynn will be a computer programmer and you will be doing alright for yourselves.

However, if things don't go according to plan for you, I wish you all the love, happiness and joy in the world and don't settle for anything less than the best since that is absolutely what you deserve.

Live long, be happy and live life to it's fullest.

Love Sherri "18″

When I read this for the first time since writing it I was floored. Even now having dug this up again another 4 years later I still can't help but think this is really cool.

So much of what I wanted for myself has materialized.

• I did travel to a few more places in Canada although I haven't seen everything I'd like to.
• I did marry the man of my dreams and yes he still is my one and only.
• I've traveled to the UK, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
• I lived in Australia for nearly 4 years in a big house, in a small suburb, in a major city (close enough).
• I had a career in Biology in the field of genetics for 10 years.
• I have two lovely kids – both boys (names now decided).
• I have not one dog but two dogs. Both yellow labs from Australia.
• Gwynn is a computer programmer.
• We are doing okay for ourselves.

After writing this I quickly forgot about what I had put in here actually. The things that materialized were all met with quite a bit of resistance (all internal) but I suppose these were things that I really did want. Having never strayed too far from home overseas travel was a huge deal. Having never been away from my family moving to Australia for several years was an incredibly huge decision.

I find it fascinating how the dreams of a young and naive little girl can become a grown woman's reality.

I'm curious if you guys have ever written anything to your future self and how it stacks up to your current reality. If you haven't, will you join me in writing a letter now to yourself in say 10 years from now? It's an interesting little experiment.

相关单词：explicit

explicit解释：adj.详述的，明确的；坦率的；显然的

explicit例句：

She was quite explicit about why she left.她对自己离去的原因直言不讳。

He avoids the explicit answer to us.他避免给我们明确的回答。

相关单词：decided

decided解释：adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

decided例句：

This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。

There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

相关单词：deserve

deserve解释：vt.应受，值得；vi. 应受报答，值得受赏

deserve例句：

You really deserve a good beating,you naughty boy.你这个调皮孩子真该打。

I do not deserve all the praises bestowed upon me.我不配得到这些赞扬。

相关单词：suburb

suburb解释：n.郊区，郊外，近郊

suburb例句：

Toward the suburb the houses begin to thin out.靠近市郊的地方房屋渐渐稀少。

Disneyland is in Los Angeles suburb.迪斯尼游乐场在洛杉矶的近郊。

相关单词：resistance

resistance解释：n.抵抗力，反抗，反抗行动；阻力，电阻；反对；adj.抵抗的

resistance例句：

Very little resistance was put up by the enemy.敌人没怎么进行抵抗。

An aircraft has to overcome the resistance of the air.飞机须克服空气的阻力。

相关单词：strayed

strayed解释：v.走失( stray的过去式和过去分词 )；偏离正题；走入歧途；（已婚者或有固定关系者）有外遇

strayed例句：

He strayed into the path of an oncoming car. 他偏到了一辆迎面驶来的汽车的行车路线上。

The more he talked, the further he strayed from the point. 他越讲越不着边际。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

相关单词：naive

naive解释：adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

naive例句：

It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。

Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

相关单词：stacks

stacks解释：n.大量( stack的名词复数 )；大烟囱；（图书馆或书店的）书架v.堆积( stack的第三人称单数 )

stacks例句：

Thus, emissions from all stacks are considered only in the aggregate. 这样一来，来自所有烟囱的排放都被认为是一个整体。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

Smoke poured out of the stacks of the factory. 烟从工厂的烟囱里喷出来。 来自辞典例句

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